Following diamonds from African mines to the necklines of high society women, this international history shows why Jews were central to the transatlantic gem trade and its growth into a global industry. During the late nineteenth century, tens of thousands of diggers, prospectors, merchants, and dealers extracted and shipped over 50 million carats of diamonds from South Africa to London. The primary supplier to the world, South Africa's diamond fields became one of the formative sites of modern capitalist production. At each stage of the diamond's route through the British empire and beyond-from Cape Town to London, from Amsterdam to New York City-carbon gems were primarily mined, processed, appraised, and sold by Jews. In A Brilliant Commodity, historian Saskia Coenen Snyder traces how once-peripheral Jewish populations became the central architects of a new, global exchange of diamonds that connected African sites of supply, European manufacturing centers, American retailers, and western consumers. Centuries of restrictions had limited Jews to trade and finance, businesses that often heavily relied on internal networks. Jews were well-positioned to become key players in the earliest stage of the diamond trade and its growth into a global industry, a development fueled by technological advancements, a dramatic rise in the demand of luxury goods, and an abundance of rough stones. Relying on mercantile and familial ties across continents, Jews created a highly successful commodity chain that included buyers, brokers, cutters, factory owners, financiers, and retailers. Working within a diasporic ethnic community that bridged city and countryside, metropole and colony, Jews helped build a flourishing diamond industry, notably Hatton Garden in London and the Diamond District of New York City, and a place for themselves in the modern world.

About the Author
Saskia Coenen Snyder is Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History at the University of South Carolina. She is the author of Building a Public Judaism: Synagogues and Jewish Identity in Nineteenth-Century Europe, which was a finalist for the Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

Reviews
The author's scholarship is exceptional, the writing is clear and concise, and the book is an essential account of that tumultuous time in history. * Russell Shor, Journal of Gemmology *
A product of deep research, this admirable book illuminates the circuits of people, commodities, and capital in the diamond trade. In tracing Jewish enterprise and expertise through networks that encompass the Cape, London, Amsterdam, and New York, Coenen Snyder provides a convincing study of material culture set in the dynamic contexts of societies old and new. * Saul Dubow, Cambridge University *
If diamonds, as De Beers would have us believe, are forever, the full story of the modern diamond trade has slipped from memory. Saskia Coenen Snyder reminds us of the central and multi-faceted role of Jews on three continents in transforming rough-hewn stones from the mines of Kimberley to the brilliant jewels sold to eager customers in the United States. This is transnational history at its best, revealing the global networks that made the diamond trade possible, teaching us about how diamonds reshaped local economies and everyday lives, and illuminating the lasting cultural impact of the relationship between Jews and diamonds. * Adam D. Mendelsohn, author of Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army *
Ever wonder how and why the magic words 'I do' are coupled with a diamond ring? If so, this book is for you. Sweeping, vivid, and resonant, Saskia Coenen Snyder's account of the global traffic in diamonds encompasses economics and etiquette, diamond mines and curb-side markets, intimate courtship rituals and public displays of affluence. A Brilliant Commodity is a triumph of the historical imagination. * Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and The Promise of America *
This intriguing book is a model of transnational Jewish economic history. Assorted histories-imperial, Jewish, economic, and labor-converge in Coenen Snyder's fascinating account of how diamonds became a niche dominated by Jews in the world of luxury goods. This comprehensive but comprehensible study takes the reader from the minefields of Africa to the exchange floors of London to the 'Jewish factories' of Amsterdam to the retail storefronts of New York City as it brings to life the enterprising people who made diamonds a ubiquitous luxury by the twenty-first century. * Rebecca Kobrin, Columbia University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197610473
Author Saskia Coenen Snyder
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 588g
Dimensions(mm) 244mm * 166mm * 22mm